Barbara Walters on the mend in Manhattan

‘Mr. Sinatra ... I am an Italian!” said the comedienne Kaye Ballard, currying favor way back when.

“And I’m an American,” Frank Sinatra shot right back. (Funny, the things that turn up in old files.)

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Our friend Cindy Adams of the Post settled it once and for all about the popular Barbara Walters. She is back in New York, at home, recovering from chickenpox with her special people, Ikadel and George, watching over her.

Barbara sounds just great, according to her pal Suzanne Goodson, and she is so glad to be home among her “things.” I’m hoping to see her soon and am sending “get well quick” love. A special pet goes to Cha Cha, her ever faithful dog.

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One of my Smith relatives of whom I’m so very proud is Anna Deavere Smith, who will be presented with the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize by JP Morgan Chase & Co. on Feb. 13 at 1 Manhattan Chase Plaza, on the 60th floor.

Lillian Gish was one of the first heroines of silent cinema, having been directed by D.W. Griffith with her long hair glued to an ice floe back when actors had to do all their own stunts — or else. (The movie was 1920’s “Way Down East.”)

Miss Gish was a charmer and so talented. She died in 1993 but just before she went to her reward, she told me that Bette Davis (in her last movie, “The Whales of August”) was “the worst person I ever had to work with.”

Then Lillian promised me that I would, at any memorial to her, tell the following story.

Lillian was standing in a cocktail party given by the agent Milton Goldman. The room was crowded with stars and famous Broadway actors, including the witty Anne Meara, who was sitting on an overcrowded couch.

“Anne,” demanded Lauren Bacall, “get up and give Lillian your seat!”

Anne looked over at the 99-year-old Miss Gish and said, “Why? Is she pregnant?”

Maybe this won’t throw you on the floor with laughter but this was Lillian’s own favorite story.

Maybe Anna will tell this story herself. Former recipients of the Gish Prize include Ingmar Bergman, Bob Dylan, Arthur Miller, Peter Sellars, Robert Redford and Pete Seeger. No one deserves it more than Anna, who has moved and used comedy to elevate social problems.